Provost

Dr. Stephen C. Wilhite became Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost
of Widener University in June of 2011, and served as Interim President of the University
from August 2015 to January 2016. Previously, he served at Widener as associate provost
for graduate studies and dean of the School of Human Service Professions, having joined
the widener faculty in 1983. A tenured professor of psychology, Dr. Wilhite has taught
undergraduate courses in human learning, memory, and thinking; developmental psychology;
the psychology of hypnosis; and research methodology. At the graduate level, he has
taught theories of learning and motivation in Widener’s Institute for Graduate Clinical
Psychology and applications of educational research in the Center for Education.
Dr. Wilhite was the first director of the university’s Honors Program from 1989 to
1993 and served as the first chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Widener Partnership
Charter School from 2006 until his promotion to Provost in 2011.

He is currently a member of the Commission for Accreditation of Physical Therapy Education,
having previously served on numerous accreditation site visit teams for the commission.
Dr. Wilhite has also been a member of accreditation site visit teams for the Middle
States Commission on Higher Education, and he served as a member of the Commission
on Learning, Instruction, and Technologies of the University Professional and Continuing
Education Association.

Dr. Wilhite co-authored the book, Learning and Memory:The Basis of Behavior (1992) and co-edited the book,Civic Engagement and Service Learning in aMetropolitian University: Multiple Approaches and Perspectives(2011). He has also written numerous journal articles and technical reports. He
is a member of various professional organizations, including the American Educational
Research Association, the Association for Psychology Science, the International Reading
Association, the American Association of the American Council on Education, and the
Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities. Dr. Wilhite’s current research
interests include applied cognitive psychology and educational psychology, especially
in relation to civic and community engagement, emotional competence, higher education
leadership, and faculty development.

Dr. Wilhite graduated from Emory University with a B.S. in psychology and earned his
D.Phil. in human experimental psychology from the University of Oxford.